Keno was introduced in two hundred before Christ by the Chinese military commander, Cheung Leung who utilized keno as a finance resource for his declining army. The city of Cheung was waging a war, and after awhile of war time seemed to be facing national shortage of food with the drastic decrease in supplies. Cheung Leung had to come up with a quick fix for the economic calamity and to produce revenue for his forces. He, as it follows developed the game we now know as keno and it was a wonderful success.
Keno used to be known as the White Pigeon Game, seeing as the winning numbers were delivered by pigeons from bigger cities to the tinier villages. The lottery ‘Keno’ was brought to America in the 19th century by Chinese migrants who headed to the US to jobs. In those times, Keno was played with 120 numbers.
Today, Keno is regularly wagered on with just 80 numbers in almost all of the US land based casinos as well as web casinos. Keno is commonly enjoyed today as a result of the relaxed nature of betting the game and the simple fact that there are no skills needed to play Keno. Regardless of the fact that the chances of getting a win are horrible, there is always the possibility that you will hit quite large with a tiny gambling investment.
Keno is played with 80 numbers with 20 numbers selected each game. Enthusiasts of Keno can pick from two to ten numbers and bet on them, as much or as little as they want to. The pay out of Keno is dependent on the bets made and the matching of numbers.
Keno grew in popularity in the US near the end of the 1800’s when the Chinese characters were replaced with more familiar, US numbers. Lotteries were not covered under the legalization of wagering in Nevada State in Nineteen Thirty One. The casinos adjusted the name of the ‘Chinese lottery’ to ‘horse race keno’ utilizing the idea that the numbers are horses and you are wanting your horses to place. When a law passed that levied a tax on off track betting, Nevada casinos swiftly adjusted the name to ‘Keno’.